LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Greenbrier County Republican Club held its annual dinner at the Elks Club Lodge on Saturday, April 29. The main speaker was Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The dinner celebrated Morrisey’s successes as attorney general, having been in office for 11 years and now embarking on his campaign for governor of West Virginia.
Other Republican candidates for governor were in attendance: J.B. McCuskey, Chris Miller, and a representative was present for Mac Warner who had a conflicting schedule and was in Monroe County for a meeting.
Additionally, Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, was there to converse about his campaign for attorney general, as was Chris Rose, who is campaigning for U.S. Senate
Gubernatorial candidate Miller said his campaign’s main focus is on energy from all sources, all of which, he said, are capable to be produced within West Virginia. U.S. Senatorial candidate Rose is from a mining family and his interest is energy and replacement of mining jobs. An energy platform is also primary in Morrisey’s campaign.
In his address to the Greenbrier County Republican Club, Morrisey began with, “Woke ideas will not stand in the State of West Virginia.”
He then discussed the opioid settlements that are coming to the counties and cities of the state, saying “West Virginia is No. 1 in the country per capita” meaning the dollars of West Virginia’s share of the settlements are greater, since the state chose not to be part of the federally managed settlement process.
How these monies are spent will be the business of West Virginia First Foundation which will manage 72.5% of the funds, allowing 24.5% to the cities and counties that participated.
Regarding the opioid epidemic, Morrisey said, “We have to stop the death.”
As far as his campaign for governor, Morrisey said there is proof in his performance of service to the citizens of West Virginia. “Besides the well-chronicled opioid suit and settlement, there have been other great strides towards protecting states’ rights, including the recent block of the EPA” from defining marshes, ditches and floodplains as federally managed waterways.
On education, he said, “’Money follows the child’ means more education options. Defending the Hope Scholarship was part of it, and West Virgina has one of the broadest school laws in the nation.”
He is cognizant of the farmer interests in Greenbrier County and the EPA waterways definition is a part of that. Also, “Egg prices are up because the cost of energy has gone up.” This focus on energy is a campaign issue that will be important in the upcoming elections.
Of jobs, Morrisey said, “There are 65,000 unfilled jobs in our state right now.” He believes to fill these jobs West Virginia needs to attract population using lower energy prices. Teachers need to want to work in West Virginia, he said; the state needs to make its jobs attractive.
Regarding technology, Morrisey stated that “telemedicine is something I helped make possible. Let’s be clear we do need better providers of internet services. Being connected is how we will grow.”
In other Greenbrier Republican Club business, incoming Club President Gordon Campbell presented the Marianne Brewster Volunteer of the Year Award to Faye Dunford.
The Volunteer of the Year presentation was introduced by Chad Brewster, Marianne Brewster’s son. She, he said, was a woman of great courage who decided to run for congress in 1990 when the idea was not well received.
Chris Brewster told about his mother and her goal as a political representative. “My mother had a message and that was generosity and volunteering, they were a big deal to her.”
Marianne Brewster was a graduate of Greenbrier College for Women in Lewisburg, ran unsuccessfully in a close race against Nick Joe Rahall and was appointed to an OSHA position by President George H.W. Bush. She was a resident of Lewisburg from 2002 until her death last June.
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